A dump truck that collided with a Cox ambulance in Polk County last Friday afternoon was driven by a former Ava man.
The Highway Patrol said the 1994 Peterbilt dump truck was driven by Royce D. Hutchison, 74, of Stockton. Hutchison was one of four people taken from the scene of the crash by air ambulance. His injuries were listed as moderate on the Highway Patrol report. However, a family member in Ava said Wednesday that he remains in ICU at Cox South Hospital, Springfield.
The ambulance was en route to Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar when the crash occurred at 1:20 p.m. on Highway 32, one mile east of Fair Play. Hutchison was not wearing a seatbelt, the report said.
According to reports, other drivers ahead of the dump truck had slowed down for the oncoming ambulance, but Hutchison’s truck went into a skid, crossed the center line and hit the ambulance head on.
Killed in the crash was James F. Pettibone, 67, of Greenfield, the patient who was being transported by the ambulance. He was pronounced dead at 1:25 p.m. by Polk County Coroner Roy Harms.
The 1996 Ford ambulance was driven by Michael A. Albright, 48, of Ash Grove. He suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Cox South Hospital in Springfield by air ambulance.
Also injured were EMS personnel in the ambulance, Lisa A Bishop, 47, of Lockwood, and Nigel F. Holderby, 35, of Springfield. They were also airlifted to Cox South with moderate injuries.
The driver, Albright, was wearing a seatbelt but the EMS personnel in the back of the ambulance with the patient were not restrained, the report said.
Three people involved in a crash on a Douglas County road southeast of Squires last Tuesday afternoon suffered minor to moderate injuries, but all refused transport by ambulance.
Cpl. Brian Thompson, who investigated the crash for the Highway Patrol, said the 3:30 p.m. wreck occurred on County Road 305, five miles southeast of Squires.
Cpl. Thompson reported a 1996 GMC driven by Shealene P. Tweedy, 19, of Seymour, was crossing the road and was hit by a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Jessie P. Smith, 35, of Ava.
Both drivers suffered moderate injuries but indicated they would seek medical treatment on their own.
Also suffering minor injuries was a passenger in the Tweedy vehicle, John A. Lister, 25, of Ava. He, too, indicated he would seek his own medical treatment.
A Joplin man died last Sunday morning after being hit in the roadway on U.S. 71, five miles north of Neosho.
The Highway Patrol said James D. McNally, 16, was lying in the roadway and was hit by a 1995 Chevrolet Lumina van driven by Carl R. Johnston, 43, of Mansfield, at 3:56 a.m.
The pedestrian was pronounced dead at 4:26 a.m. by Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges.
